Chapter 236: Leaving

During the day, Lu Ye continued his study of spirit patterns with Lady Yun. In the evenings, he returned to the outpost to cultivate and rest.

Lady Yun was quite worried to learn that Lu Ye would soon be heading to the inner region. However, she also knew that he couldn't stay in the outer region indefinitely.

While it was safe for a seventh-level cultivator like him to remain in the outer region, it held little significance for his personal growth. Cultivating in isolation ultimately offered limited prospects; true strength wasn't merely achieved through arduous cultivation. Every leading figure from the two major factions had forged their path through countless battles and bloodshed.

She could only teach Lu Ye as much about spirit patterns as possible to give him greater self-preservation capabilities. Additionally, she secretly gave him two precious items.

Lu Ye's talent in the path of spirit patterns greatly pleased her. He grasped most concepts after she demonstrated them just once, making her believe that if she could truly take him as a disciple, teaching him would undoubtedly save a lot of time and effort.

It was a pity that old man Tang Yifeng stubbornly refused to budge, which was truly frustrating.

Half a month passed in a flash.

In front of the Heavenly Secret Hall, Lu Ye looked at the people who had come to see him off and said, "I'll go ahead and scout things out for you. While I'm gone, make sure to cultivate diligently. I hope you can all reach the inner region and even the core region soon."

He then looked at Hua Ci: "I'm leaving the outpost in your care."

Hua Ci nodded gently and said, "Be careful on your journey."

Lu Ye looked at He Xiyin in the crowd. She had her head bowed, fists clenched, and shoulders trembling, making it unclear what she was doing.

"He Xiyin!"

"Here!" He Xiyin snapped her head up.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Ah? Oh, Fifth Senior Brother, you're leaving already! What will we do at the outpost without you? I'll miss you so much... hahahaha..."

Lu Ye looked at her expressionlessly and said calmly, "If you can't bear to part, then come with me. You're almost at the seventh level, which is sufficient cultivation for the inner region. Having a companion on the journey can also help pass the time."

"No, I won't!" He Xiyin flatly refused.

"Oh?"

"My... my cultivation is still low. If I go with Fifth Senior Brother, I'll only hold you back. I think I still need to cultivate more here at the outpost."

Lu Ye gave her a deep look, then raised a hand to his mouth and whistled.

A huge shadow descended from the sky, catching a blood-red trout that Lu Ye threw, then squatted down beside him.

Lu Ye jumped onto the eagle's back, with Yiyi beside him, and a foot-long, snow-white kitten perched on his shoulder. The white cat yawned, letting out a soft, milky "aww" sound.

Knowing Lu Ye was going to the inner region, Yiyi had been inseparable from him for the past three days, fearing that he might leave her behind.

During the last Spirit Creek Outpost Battle, Lu Ye hadn't taken her. Although Yiyi didn't show it outwardly, she was actually a bit unhappy about it. This time, she absolutely wouldn't let Lu Ye leave her behind.

Lu Ye had no intention of leaving her behind, so he naturally brought her along.

As for the foot-long, snow-white kitten, it looked like a cat, but a closer look revealed it to be a tiger. This was Amber!

The reason for this astonishing transformation was entirely due to Shui Yuan, who had refined a Transformation Pill for Amber to consume.

Demonic beasts could transform into human form; those who did became demon cultivators. Lu Ye had encountered a few demon cultivators before, though not many. He particularly remembered the female demon cultivators who served as receptionists in the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance.

However, for a demonic beast to transform, it needed to open certain special spirit apertures. If relying solely on its own cultivation, it had to reach a certain realm before transforming.

Lu Ye used to wonder how those demon cultivators, whose strength wasn't particularly high, could transform into human form.

He later learned that there were two ways for demon cultivators to transform: one was to become powerful enough, and the other was to consume a Transformation Pill.

Alternatively, the offspring of two demon cultivators had a chance of being born in human form.

After consuming the Transformation Pill, Amber didn't transform into human form, but its body could shrink to the size of a cat. According to Second Senior Sister, this was its own choice; Amber would not transform into human form in the future because it knew which transformation method was more beneficial for its growth.

This was its instinct as a demonic beast.

Shui Yuan's actions were undoubtedly also meant for Lu Ye to take Amber and Yiyi with him, so they could look out for each other.

As everyone waved goodbye, Little Gray flapped its wings and ascended. The howling wind made it difficult to keep one's eyes open, and by the time they looked again, Little Gray's silhouette had already disappeared into the distance.

Sitting on the eagle's back, Yiyi spread her arms, feeling the fierce wind against her face. Her bell-like laughter filled the air, as if they were back in the old days, the three of them traveling together.

Lu Ye took out a ten-part map to check his bearings and set their direction.

In the Chess Sea, he had met many outpost masters or deputy masters from various sects, so finding a suitable target wasn't difficult. However, his trip to the inner region wasn't just to find suitable sects to form alliances with; he also had another matter to attend to.

Several months earlier, when his identity was exposed, quite a few Ten Thousand Demon Ridge sects had pursued him, especially during the Battle of Golden Light Peak, where a total of forty-three Ten Thousand Demon Ridge forces participated...

He had kept a mental note of all those who had participated in hunting him down or had given him trouble at Golden Light Peak, waiting only for an opportunity to retaliate.

Otherwise, why would he have announced his sect affiliation every time during the Battle of Golden Light Peak?

After searching for a moment, he saw a somewhat familiar name. "That's it," he decided. "It's you, Soaring Heaven Sect!"

A little over a day later, in a desolate wilderness, Lu Ye and Yiyi stood side by side, as Little Gray flapped its wings and flew off.

This area was already within the inner region of the battlefield. Without Little Gray, even if Lu Ye rode Amber, it would take at least a month to reach this place. But with Little Gray, it was different. Across the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield, Little Gray was undoubtedly the most powerful and fastest.

Back then, it hadn't taken him long to travel from the Bloodfiend Sect outpost to Ying Mountain either.

However, Little Gray was only suitable for travel. Ever since the current generation's Senior Brother from Bloodfiend Sect left the Spirit Creek Battlefield, Little Gray had remained at the Bloodfiend Sect outpost, and no one could command it. Even Lu Ye could only make 'deals' with Little Gray using blood-red trout, such as getting a ride. Using it to fight enemies was absolutely impossible.

If not for this, Lu Ye would have long since ridden Little Gray to settle scores with each of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge forces.

He had once asked Senior Sister Shui Yuan, and according to her, the last command that Senior Brother left for Little Gray after departing the Spirit Creek Battlefield was to guard the outpost well!

Thus, in Little Gray's mind, the Bloodfiend Sect outpost was more important than anything else. It could leave the outpost for a few days, but not indefinitely.

"Lu Ye, Lu Ye!" Yiyi called out from the side. "The spiritual energy in the inner region is so rich!"

Previously, she couldn't absorb spiritual energy to strengthen herself, but after cultivating with the Sect Master for several months, she could now cultivate independently. She could even feed spiritual energy back to Amber.

Therefore, Yiyi and Amber's growth rate was also extremely fast, as both could grow stronger regardless of which one was cultivating. Of course, Amber's cultivation method primarily involved eating: it would eat its fill, find a place to lie down, and then get up to eat more.

Sometimes, Lu Ye envied Amber immensely. This method of gaining strength was truly convenient.